


the sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow

by mieraspeller



Series: the world turned upside down [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Families of Choice, Gen, Magic, Magical Realism, POV Original Character, Post-Apocalypse, Road Trip, dead bodies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 19:41:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11237847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mieraspeller/pseuds/mieraspeller
Summary: Holidays, snow, snow, and more snow. The road trip takes an abrupt left turn followed by a long pause.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd

December 25 

Badlands National Park, North Dakota  


 

Khrys had grown up in a forest. Homeschooled and surrounded by her grove for the first fifteen years of her life, she had never gone further from home than the small town of ---- less than five miles from the edge of the forest. It had taken weeks of begging just to be allowed to go to her Aunt Hanna's place in Florida. Even then, her mother had insisted on Nik going along. What she thought sending a thirteen year along would accomplish, Khrys had no idea. After the best week of her life, she was to be escorted home by friends of her aunt's driving cross country in an RV. And then, halfway there, this had happened. 

This being a world gone post-apocalyptic. No cell service, no internet. (Just because she was homeschooled, didn't mean they were complete recluses. They had wifi.) Her phone was a useless lump of dead metal, though she hadn't been able to bring herself to throw it out, just yet. And now, because Janice and Regina wanted to stop and meet up with their old friends in some crappy campground, she was stuck in the middle of nowhere with her annoying brother and a bunch of old people who were in no hurry. Just, no hurry. To do anything. Not even willing to turn on the generator, even though they all knew it worked, and cook over the stove inside the camper instead of over a camping grill. At least they had enough charcoal to last weeks. 

She huddled under a blanket near the grill, letting her brother shift his chair closer for warmth. Snow had fallen again overnight. It was the wet, heavy stuff, and not helpful, as she had planned to take another crack at convincing Janice to get back on the road. She was just glad her lineage was of hardy stock. As it was, she was hard put not to give into the urge to sleep the winter through. 

Janice, Corinne and Regina were all talking about knitting or something, while Marco, Corinne's husband and the last of their geriatric party, stared into space and cooked a rabbit over the fire. At least Janice was aware of her and Nik's dietary restrictions. She had told the others that they were vegans. Close enough, Khrys snorted. 

"We've got visitors up the road," Marco said, apropos of nothing. "In the cabins."

Regina and Corinne looked wary. Janice, on the other hand, perked up like her evil Pomeranian familiar Muffin when he smelled weakness or blood. 

"The roads must be clear enough to drive, then!" Khrys said quickly, giving Regina a plaintive look. They had been firmly rejecting all of her and Nik's entreaties to head home before the roads got any worse for the past week, but maybe -

"We should invite them to lunch! We've got plenty, and it's Christmas, after all," Janice said, completely ignoring her. 

Nik let out a groan under his breath. Khrys would have liked to do the same, but she wasn't going to put herself on the level of a kid that could barely be considered a teenager. She didn't bother asking how Marco had known there were people in the cabins. He had probably seen them when he was hunting for his breakfast. Instead, she said, in a familiar rejoinder, "We're pagan. We don't do Christmas." 

"We can still be neighborly," Janice said in her most patronizing tone. She bounded up without even consulting them, grabbing her half knitted and mostly white shawl, her bicycle, and road off without another word. 

"Reg?" 

"Yeah," the woman sighed, and that Khrys could definitely relate to. She really didn't understand how two women so different from one another could be in a happy relationship. Janice was paper white, wrinkled and had a floof of white hair, where Regina was sensible and brown, with a mass of silvering brown curls. They were equally grandmotherly, though, which Khrys supposed could be where they found their common ground.

Or maybe not, because a moment later she pulled out a can of mace from her pocket. Leia's eyes widened and she darted a look around at the others. All of them seemed perfectly calm at this development. Marco picked up a shotgun that had apparently been sitting half hidden behind the cooler next to him all this time, and set it in his lap, covering it with the edge of his blanket. Corrine put a casual hand on the hatchet on the ground between her and her husband.

Those two were definitely meant for each other.

Nik was practically quivering with excitement next to her, but Khrys was still taken aback. Her family didn't use weapons - in the rare event they needed to defend themselves, they had the forest and strong constitutions. Guns were for the hunters that invaded their land every year. Still, they were only human, and old. They probably needed them to feel secure. 

After several minutes, Khrys heard the bicycle come speeding back, and immediately a tension lifted over the group. Janice came wheeling up to the camper, all smiles.

"They'll be along in a moment. Nice young people, I think," she added happily, before taking her place at the fire and leaning against Regina comfortably. 

By the time the strangers deigned to join them, Marco had started some potatoes roasting on the grill while the ladies set out the last of their deli meat, bread, and fruit on the picnic table. Khrys scowled. She, personally, didn't eat bread or meat, but that didn't mean they should hand it off to strangers. 

Before long Janice's new friends were coming down the road, wrapped in winter gear and huddling closely. Three of them were older than Khrys, but definitely younger than her elderly minders. Probably college aged, except the man had a baby strapped to his chest, and one of the women was holding the hand of a girl who looked a few years younger than Nik. On her other side, a red haired woman was leaning into her, limping slightly. The adults and the baby were maybe related even with their varied hair colors - it was hard to tell with white people. But the kid was harder to pin. She was as brown as Khrys and Nik were, but with wavy dark hair instead of pin straight like both of theirs.

The redhead gave the dark haired girl a hard stare when they were in sight, but they came toward them without hesitation

"Wonderful, you made it!" Janice said, holding her arms wide and gesturing at the rest of them. Like anyone could have missed their group. Even without the fire, Marco's cowboy hat was impossible to ignore, and Corinne's coat was roughly the color of the sun. Muffin prowled around the grill with his perpetual snarl, occasionally growling when it spit off sparks. "Come sit, we've got some extra camp chairs. I know it's a little chilly, but I think we'll be alright with the fire, don't you?" 

Khrys shifted, disgruntled as Janice gestured for them to get out of the nice, civilized chairs, and onto the snow covered picnic bench. 

"Thank you," the redhead said. "We appreciate the invitation." 

"Of course, dear!" Corinne, the traitor, said, waving at them. "Oh, and you've got a baby!" 

The man cupped the baby's stocking capped head protectively, nodding briefly. "I'm Stiles, this is Harry."

"Lydia," the redhead said, and the dark haired woman identified herself as Cora. She waited a beat, but the girl just looked at them wide-eyed, until Lydia said for her, "And this is Maria."

Khrys narrowed her eyes.

"Corinne," Corinne said, then pointed around at the rest in introduction, "Regina and Janice, my husband Marco over there. Khrysopeleia and Nikolas. And Muffin," she finished, pointing at the dog. "He's Janice's familiar," she said conspiratorially. Khrys had to force herself not to gape as Corinne casually threw that secret out. She hadn't even known that the Hernandez' knew that Janice was a witch. Did they know about her and Nik? 

While she was still stunned over this, Corinne barreled on, saying,"Now, come sit down and eat." 

Khrys watched, with some annoyance, as they all sat around the grill, filling plates filled with sandwiches and talking about themselves. 

"So, how did you end up out here?" Cora asked. 

"Well, after all the electronics went out, we just decided to stay put for a bit, until we had a better plan," Janice told her. 

"We're in the same Facebook group, dear," Regina continued. "Traveling grandparents. We were going to cross paths, and stopped to say hello the day before it happened. We blinked and the power went out, and everybody was gone. Marco checked up to at the main building, but everyone was gone but one of the park rangers, and he left to check on his family a few days back. We were supposed to deliver Khrys and Nik home for their aunt - we went to college together - but we got stuck here."

"Are you-" Khrys started, but Regina barreled over her, asking, "How long have you been on the road?" 

Stiles frowned and glanced at the others. "Five days now." 

Corinne nodded sympathetically. "We got here just before the snow started. Once the weather clears, we're heading to our kids' place in Texas."

"We're going west. Family in California," Lydia said. "We were meant to be home by today at the latest," she added with a snort. "Now I'm just hoping we'll make it before next year."

Khrys perked up at that. Maybe if Regina and Janice had some new friends, they'd follow them home - and drop Khrys and Nik off on the way. Around her, the grandparents nodded sympathetically. They continued talking for awhile, about Maria and Harry, and their trip so far, but Khrys mostly tuned them out, working on her argument to leave now, and not some unspecified, weather related, future date. She looked up when Cora handed her plate back to Janice with a quiet murmur of thanks before rising to her feet.

"Cora?" Lydia asked.

"Back in a minute," she said, jogging back down the road toward the cabins.

When she was out of sight, Regina leaned in and jerked her thumb after Cora. 

"So - wolf shifter?" 

Khrys gaped as Stiles coughed and choked on his last bite of toast, prompting Marco to smack him on the back a few times, then stared further when Lydia nodded. A werewolf? Did everyone know about the supernatural? Nik looked up at her, and she shrugged, then nudged for him to be quiet as Corinne smiled widely.

"Don't worry, honey," Corinne said. Khrys felt like her whole world view was tilting as she said, "We're all in the know. My father was half-fae, my mother could shift into a mare. I've just got a bit of sparkle." She flicked her hand in demonstration, and the baby cooed as tiny glints of red and green showered over the group.

"Horse shifters run in Cori's side of the family," Marco volunteered. "Skipped our daughter, but our grandkids all got it to a one. They live down south outside Dallas on a ranch with my son-in-law. He's got a bit of the future sense, says it comes from his great grandfather." 

"I'm plain old human, far as I can tell," Regina said. "But my great grandfather was an incubus. Then again, my Jan -"

"Reggie, they don't want to hear about that," Janice said quickly. "And your friend is coming back - looks like she has something."

Cora jogged back down the incline, bag slung over her shoulder. She set it down on her chair, and looked around at every ones expectant expressions. 

"My family used to make a big deal of Christmas, since it's my brother's birthday, as well. So we'd all give each other little things, and," she shrugged sheepishly and unzipped the bag. She tossed a rectangular gift covered in brown paper to Lydia, and then handed out a few other things to everyone, over the protests of the grandparents. "No, please take them. Just think of it as a 'thank you for reminding us that there are still nice people in the world' present."

Khrys raised her eyebrows as she handed out packages, mostly covered in plastic bags or unwrapped, trying not to betray her own interest. Maria ripped the paper off her package first, revealing a coat and jumping up to hug Cora. The baby received a squishy bear that he immediately grasped and began chewing on, while Lydia got a book that had her reaching over to Cora and pulling her into a kiss before she could hand out the rest of the gifts. Stiles was tossed a lighter, which made him laugh raucously, for some reason, and then a bag of candy went flying to Nik and a rainbow striped scarf was draped unceremoniously in Khrys' lap. She looked down at it blankly, then managed a smile at this random woman dropping presents like some kind of werewolf Santa. 

The grandparents all protested gifts at first, but finally Corinne, who capitulated first, got a pair of bright orange gloves that somehow perfectly matched her jacket. Regina and Janice both received flower patterned scarves, and Marco opened his to find green plaid earflap hat. 

They sat around the grill talking for a while longer until Janice stood to clean up. Khrys wrapped her scarf around her neck and joined her, following her into their RV and dropping a stack of plates in the sink. 

"Thanks, hun," Janice said. 

"Can we go with them?"

"Hmm?" 

"Follow them? They seem to know what they're doing, and they're going the same direction we are."

Janice fussed over the dishes. Khrys crossed her arms and waited. Finally, Janice said, "Sweetheart, our camper won't make it through the mountains with all the snow on the ground. We'll get you home, I promise, but it won't be until -" 

"Are you kidding me?" Khrys stormed out of the camper, then stopped, dismayed, as the other group was already gone. She could just see them heading toward the cabins. 

"They're leaving?" she demanded. Marco leaned back and raised his eyebrows at her tone. She took a deep breath and clenched her fists until she could feel the skin on the backs of her hands crackling and splitting. 

"Khrys," her brother hissed at her. She shoved her fists in her pockets until she could feel them shifting back from craggy phellem to smooth skin. "What are you doing?"

"Sorry - just. They're leaving already?" 

"They were worried they would get snowed in before they crossed the Rockies," Regina volunteered, adjusting her red, flower patterned scarf around her neck. She continued brightly, "but we're planning on visiting them in California next summer."

"It's about to dump a boatload of snow on us," Marco said, bland. 

"Oh, my god," Khrys half-growled. "Nik, get your stuff." She went back into the camper and dragged her bag out from the storage compartment under the kitchen bench. 

Janice raised a hand as if to stop her. "Khrys-" 

"I am not waiting until spring to get home," she said. The door slammed and Nik came in, still cradling the bag of candy. 

"What's going on?" he asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. 

"We're going to ask them if they'll bring us home," Khrys said. She finished stuffing her things into her bag and tossed it over her shoulder. "Hurry up, Nik." 

"Um-" Nik said, eyes darting between the two women uncertainly. He took a step back when Khrys glared at him. 

"Come _on_ , Nik." 

"I know they seem nice, Khrys, but I don't think your mother-"

She let out gusting sigh, tossing her head back. "I can take care of myself," she said, letting a bit of needle into her voice. "And Nik."

"If they kill us," Nik started. 

Khrys scoffed. "What are the going to do, chop us up for firewood? They're already bringing two kids with them, we'll actually be helpful." 

That seemed to decide her brother, and he quickly gathered his things. All the while, the grandparents argued, and cajoled, and finally threatened to tell Khrys and Nik's mother. That last her turning on them with a glare. "We are going. If we have to hike home, or take root in the mountains until thaw, at least we're trying!" 

She took Nik's hand and they set off down the road.

"Be careful!" Regina called after them. 

"Make sure they put snow chains on first thing," Marco said. 

"We _will_ see you in the spring," Corinne added. 

"I'm sorry," Janice finished, following after them to pull both of them into a tight hug. "Get home safely." 

 

It wasn't a long walk, and Nik didn't object when Khrys grabbed his hand tightly, even goading her into a quicker pace. She could hear them talking as they loaded up their vehicles - a beat up Jeep, and an equally ancient truck. Cora was tying a tarp over the truck bed and her back went stiff as they approached. She slammed the tailgate hard and turned to face them. 

Khrys skidded to a stop in the snow, holding Nik upright as he nearly slid past her. 

"Please, don't leave yet," she said. "You're going through Idaho, right?" 

"What's it to you?" Cora asked, straightening up defensively.

"My full name is Khrysopeleia Petralia," she ventured, and Cora raised her eyebrows. "My mom had a thing for mythology. We're... um, we're oreiads?"

Cora raised her eyebrows. "Both of you?" 

Nik scowled. "You think guys can't be trees?"

"Our grove is in Idaho," Khrys cut in before her brother could get into a fight. "We were wondering if we could get a ride home with you guys? Janice said they aren't going to risk going west until the snow melts." 

When Cora hesitated, Khrys huffed, just resisting stomping her foot. "Aren't wolves supposed to help travelers?!" 

Cora rolled her eyes. "One, that only applies if you are in my pack's territory. Which this isn't. And two, that only gives you a night's reprieve - it doesn't have anything to do with escorting anyone home." 

Khrys bit her lip sharply, looking at her brother in mute apology. 

"Whatever, we can get home on our own," Nik said, scowling at Cora with all the fury of a scorned thirteen year old. "We'll figure it out."

With an irritated huff, Cora gestured for them stay. After an interminable wait, she allowed, "I never said I wouldn't help you, but I have to talk to my pack." 

Khrys slumped back, clinging harder to her brother's hand. "Okay. Thanks." 

As she turned, she muttered, "More detours. At this rate, Derek is going to drive the rest of the pack to Alpha-cide with his worrying."

Nik nudged Khrys happily and they stood by the truck, both looking as pitiful as they could manage until Cora was out of their sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> according to the campground website, they're only open until Nov. 1, so chalk this up to artistic license or something


	2. Chapter 2

Khrys knew she wasn't as worldly as some, but she felt that not knowing the best way to break into a house was something she had in common with most normal people. 

Apparently werewolves operated on a different moral scale. Cora used her claws to pry the storm window off, then handed Khrys the crowbar. "Alright, jam the end in between the window and the sill - further than that," she said, when Khrys had only managed to wriggle the bar about a quarter of an inch. "Okay, now push the lever down until it pops." 

With some trepidation, Khrys pressed her full weight on the lever, anchoring her feet in the soil. "I don't think-" she panted and then the window gave an ominous crack and she stumbled forwards as the crowbar popped out of her hands and clattered to the sidewalk. 

"Good job," Cora told her, patting her on the shoulder. Khrys moved out of the way as the werewolf shoved the window the rest of the way open and climbed in, suppressing a nervous laugh. A moment later the front door opened and Cora gestured the adult betas in, nodding at Khrys as they walked past with empty bags and bottles. 

The man - Stiles - gave Khrys a quick thumbs up as he passed, but Lydia jerked her chin toward the driveway. 

"Wait in the truck," was all she said before brushing past and into the house. Khrys scowled at the dismissal and stalked away.

The kid, Maria, looked a few years younger than Nik, but she was standing in the bed of the truck on top of a case of water, looking around with a pair of binoculars. Her fat cat was drowsing on top of the cab of the truck behind her. And Khrys was just in the way, apparently. She went back to the truck and got in, bumping her brother's shoulder with her arm. 

"Okay?"

He shrugged, not looking up from his notebook. It was covered in scribbles and tied games of tic tac toe. 

"Want to play cat and mouse?"

Nik perked up, flipping to an empty page and filling a corner with a dot grid. "You can go first," he offered. 

They waited in the truck while they cleared out the gas station - already sans gas -, then a couple trailer houses, until Khrys was practically vibrating with impatience. They were barely twenty miles from the campgrounds, and two hours along after ransacking the small group of buildings called Interior and now starting on the equally tiny Scenic. 

When Cora got back in the truck, Khrys stared her down. "This is taking too long. We won't need all this stuff if we just drive straight there."

Cora raised one eyebrow. "Gas."

"What?"

"Fuel. Unless you feel like walking back to Idaho, we need gas."

Khrys huffed. "Can I help, then, instead of just sitting in the truck?"

"Ask Lydia, she's in charge of our supplies." Cora turned the truck on and pulled out after the Jeep, navigating over the deep ruts in the snow with ease. They drove for another twenty miles or so before they came across another slightly larger town, which Cora told them was a few miles out of Rapid City.

"Which we will be avoiding," Lydia said firmly. "Come on."

She followed her up to the front door of the first house, nose wrinkling from the smell. While Khrys didn't regret asking to help, she wished that the help wasn't quite so... gross.

"How can you stand this?" she asked, one hand pinched over her nose. Inside, she could see a half eaten dinner for five on the dining table, and the smell promised to grow worse by something horrific from the kitchen. 

"Menthol and clothespins," Lydia said, handing a small jar to her after applying it to her own nose. That was followed by a clothespin, one of which she offered to Khrys, and handkerchief over her mouth. She handed Khrys a reusable shopping bag. "Medicine cabinet, toilet paper and soap."

"Uh," she said smartly, but Lydia was already moving off. Cora had stayed outside, unable to get a few feet from the door without retching, and strongly objected to Nik or Maria going in, while Stiles siphoned gas from the few abandoned vehicles down the road. 

The house was slightly warmer than the outside temperature, but not enough to take off her coat. She directed her flashlight towards the hallway and squared her shoulders. It was fine, and there was definitely not anything lurking in the dark house. 

"Hurry, I want all the gas cans filled before we start scouting for a place to stop for the night," Lydia yelled.

"Ugh, fine," Khrys said, and walked into the hall.

It was creepy. Maria had offered to loan her a baseball bat, and Khrys deeply regretted not taking it. Cora had told them the house was empty, but she was still walking through someone else's house, about to steal their toiletries. 

The second door she checked was the bathroom, and she thanked everything that it was fairly clean. She quickly cleared out the medicine cabinet and the cabinet under the sink. The only soap was a half used bar in the bath which she gingerly dropped in with the rest, and the three and half rolls of toilet paper went on top. Done with that task she half ran outside, hitting her shin on a chair and slamming the door behind her, before she could take a deep breath of clean air. 

"Okay?" Cora asked. Khrys thrust the bag at her and yanked the clothespin off her aching nose. 

"I'd rather stay outside," she admitted, cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "I can keep watch? Or keep an eye on the baby?" She looked up to see Cora exchange a look with Stiles, even as Lydia walked out and calmly put her loot in the truck bed.

"Can you drive?" Stiles asked. 

"Yes, I'm sixteen," Khrys said, glaring when her brother laughed from his perch in the truck. "... I have my learner's permit," she admitted under Cora's look. 

"We'll keep that for emergencies," Lydia decided. "Cora, go ahead with Khrys in the truck and finish syphoning the cars on this block. We'll catch up after we look through these houses." 

 

When they left Green Valley to cut a wide zig zag south to avoid Rapid City, Khrys found herself in the Jeep with Lydia and Stiles. Before she quite realized it they were already heading south. Lydia had three maps in her lap and the baby was babbling to himself, with the occasional response from Stiles. 

"Nik's with Maria and Cora in the truck," Stiles assured her from the driver's seat. "We wanted to pick your brain, see if you know anything about this... this." He said, waving his hand around at the deserted landscape. 

Khrys shook her head and shrugged. She knew that a lot of people - more than she'd originally thought, stuck in the relatively barren campground - had disappeared. 

"No one in your grove mentioned anything? Even with everything going on in the news?" Lydia pressed. Papers rustled as she carefully folded one of the maps in favor of another. 

"No... I mean, mom told me to be extra careful, but we usually don't have issues with hunters."

"And you're Phoebe Petralia's daughter, right?" 

Raising her eyebrows, she nodded carefully. "Why?" 

"We were actually talking to your mom about visiting this summer," Stiles said with a snort. "It's just funny." 

Lydia cleared her throat. "Right. Stiles, cliff's notes version?" 

"Wait, you guys know what happened?" Khrys sat up and twisted in her seat so she could look at both of them. "How?" 

"Basically? One of the witches involved was my mentor. They did a spell to separate the mundane from the supernatural world because of the hunters and the actual, literal witch hunts going on."

"Essentially, we believe we're in an alternate reality," Lydia said, cutting Stiles off before he could continue.

Khrys eyed Lydia. That was... weird. But, as she sunk back into her seat, she shrugged. There wasn't anything she could do about it. Oreiads magic was innate. Like shifters, they could transform, but they couldn't perform spells. "Right. Well, as long as I get home and my family's there, whatever. How close do you think we'll get, tonight?"

"We have another couple hours of daylight," Lydia said, blithely ignoring Stiles' laughter. "I'd say we can make another hundred miles before we have to stop. Stiles, turn right here, then left in a mile." 

 

When they pulled into Hermosa, yet another small town, Khrys hopped out of the Jeep, giving her brother a surreptitious glance. He seemed fine - even sharing a notepad game with Maria from the looks of it. 

Cora took a few steps away from the truck extending her neck and giving an exaggerated sniff. Immediately, she gagged and recoiled. Khrys gave the house a wary look. 

"Oh, god, that reeks," she choked out. "I'll -" 

"Yes, stay here and keep watch," Lydia said, leaning in to rub some of the menthol under her nose and pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. "Nik, watch the south, Maria, you're on baby watch. Khrys, try to make some room in the truck bed." She headed into the house, leaving Cora with a small smile as she hopped up on the truck bed to have a better vantage point to keep watch. 

Khrys rolled up the sleeves of her jacket. Behind her she could hear Maria and Nik arguing, then Nik crawled into the Jeep and took the bottle that Stiles pressed onto him - "Just in case." 

Then Stiles slung an empty bag over his shoulder and followed Lydia into the house. They'd developed a rhythm by now, and Khrys climbed into the truck bed without complaint to try and make some room for whatever they would find. She still found in a bit strange that Lydia and Stiles could easily go into the smelly houses when Cora sat them out, but she guessed Alpha's had much stronger senses. Inside, she could hear Lydia and Stiles easily - they usually opened the windows and left the door ajar to air out the houses. 

"Found a pair of jeans in your size!" Lydia called.

"Two boxes of tampons!" Stiles yelled back. "And a pack of wet wipes!" 

Khrys rolled her eyes as they continued with their weirdly competitive looting. A few moments later, Lydia came out of the house with two full bags to slide into the scant space Khrys had cleared. Then she stood back and gave her an appraising look.

"The woman was roughly our size - come on, let's see if we can find anything decent in her closet." 

Khrys shuddered, but followed Lydia inside, brushing past Stiles, smelling like baby wipes and in new clothes, with a bag full of food over his shoulder. He tossed a package at Lydia, who caught it easily. 

"The middle of nowhere and you still manage to find the geekiest clothes," she said, eyeing the Star Wars tee he was sporting with grudging humor. He grinned brightly. 

"Just lucky, I guess." 

Lydia rolled her eyes and shooed him out. "Put that away, we'll be out in a few minutes." 

"Can't we wait until I get home?" Khrys asked, glancing at her clothes, than around the stranger's bedroom. 

"Honey, no offense, but I can tell you been out of clean clothes for a few days. Take these and pick out an outfit." Lydia handed over a package of baby wipes and patted her on the shoulder. "You can either change here, or when we stop for the night." She left, and Khrys grimaced. Now that Lydia had pointed it out, she could practically feel the grime. And none of the clothes in her bag were any better - she hadn't bothered washing anything before leaving her aunt's, and she only brought a week's worth of clothes for her trip. Hesitantly, she opened the dresser, then skipped down a few drawers, unabled to bring herself to wear someone else's underwear.

When she made it back outside, in her new clothes, Stiles gestured her over to help him tie the tarp down. 

"Are we done?" Khrys asked, shooting a surprised look at him. 

"Think so. We got tampons, canned milk, pasta and like twenty cans of ravioli. Oh, and cigarettes." Cora made a face, and Stiles shrugged apologetically. "Maybe we can barter with them. We'll keep looking - as cold as it's been, I'm hoping we'll find some fresh fruit that's still good." 

"No one likes scurvy," Cora agreed, rubbing absently at the menthol under her nose. "But otherwise, we mainly need gas. Go check the garage, Stiles." 

Stiles shot her a bemused look. "Are we in a hurry?" 

She shook her head, then frowned, head tilting to the side. "I just feel like... we should hurry." 

Khrys cast a glance at the sky, then at Stiles, who nodded briskly. "Right. I'll be back in a sec." He hurried over to the garage, set a bit back from the building. Cora glanced around again, rubbing her hands over her arms. 

"You want me to have the kids get buckled in?" Khrys asked, watching Cora, who had begun to pace, with some concern. 

"Why don't you run in and tell them to hurry it up?" Cora said, then she stiffened. "Engines - go now." 

Khrys took off to the house. Lydia took one look at her face, and they were hustling out of the house in less than thirty seconds, coats half on and herded by Lydia towards the truck. 

"Stiles is checking the garage," Cora said, to Lydia's searching look. "Engines a few miles out. Guessing about five minutes off now." 

"Okay, Cora, check the straps on the tarp then start the truck, Maria, Nik, get buckled in." Lydia swung herself into the driver's seat of the Jeep and started it up. A second later Maria was scrambling into the passenger seat. "Khrys, get Stiles -" 

She took off to the garage, dodging in through the open side door. 

"The car had an almost full tank," Stiles enthused, brandishing a sloshing gas can, then his face went still when he saw her expression. 

"Cora heard engines," was all she had to say, and he capped the gas can and raced after her to the vehicles, taking in everything at a glance before sliding into the truck after her. It bounced into motion, following the Jeep out onto the road and throwing up clouds of loose snow.

The radio crackled, and then Lydia asked, "Stiles, can you and Maria get enough of a wind up to obscure our tracks?" 

Khrys didn't have time to be confused before Stiles rolled down the window, thrusting a hand at a few snow covered trees lining the road. "Ventus!" he hissed, and a sudden gust of wind knocked the snow free, dumping it onto their tracks. She stared in bemusement as a second gust followed the first, blowing across the road to obscure their tracks. 

He kept at it for a good quarter mile before they turned back onto the highway, stopping briefely for Cora to drag a few fallen tree limbs across the road. It took less than a minute and they were off again. Khrys kept glancing back over her shoulder, long after Cora told them she couldn't hear anything anymore.

When Stiles spoke again, she jumped. He sat tense next to her, one hand resting on his holster. "Man, there was some good stuff in that garage. They had an extra car battery and all kinds of fluids." 

"We'll find more," Cora said tersely. Stiles nodded, then glanced Khrys.

"Alright?"

She nodded, crossing her arms over her stomach. "Is it always like this?" 

There was a long pause, before Stiles said. "It'll be better once you're home." 

Khrys wasn't sure whether she should thank him or curse him for the lie. Something else was bothering her, and she was happy to turn her attention to that. "So... how is it a werewolf can use magic?" 

Then she watched, eyes wide, when Cora and Stiles both began laughing hysterically.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> unbeta'd

December 26

Edgemont, South Dakota

 

Cora drifted in and out sleep, hearing bits of an ongoing argument. While she had learned quickly not to ask innocent questions like "but why did the spell fry all my electronics," apparently someone else hadn't gotten the memo. She snuggled further under the mound of blankets, careful of Harry sleeping next to her. Mister Fluffy meowed in indignation at her movement. He glared at Cora then trotted out of the tent, probably to complain to Maria until she fed him. A moment later, the tent rustled and someone who smelled like electricity and caffeine crawled in. 

"Cora. Breakfast." 

She waved Stiles off and turned her head enough to grumble at him, "Make them stop." 

"It is a theory, but that doesn't mean it's wrong," Lydia way saying, voice raising slightly. 

"I can still keep looking, though, can't I?" Nik demanded, a hint of teenage petulance creeping into his voice. 

"What are they even," Cora said, groaning. "Ugh." 

"Nik wants to look for a new DS," Stiles said. 

"Ugh," Cora said again, with more feeling. Stiles snickered and swept up Harry to get him ready for the day. He said something to Lydia and Nik about keeping an eye out, and Nik went away triumphant, while Lydia huffed and - started breaking down the tent. That Cora was still in. 

She hastily crawled out, dragging the blankets with her and eyeing Lydia with annoyance. "Really? Should you be-" 

Lydia looked at her, reached over to smooth down her hair and bent down to press a kiss to her cheek. "My leg is fine. I took the stitches out last night. And you look ridiculous," she said instead of an apology. "Go brush your hair and teeth and pack up, I want to be out of here in ten." 

Amid the usual hustle of getting everything packed back into the truck, and even over the sound of the toothbrush, she could hear Maria was talking through a new spell from her book to her cat. Stiles was rambling to Harry as he fed him breakfast. And in the other room Khrys and Nik were arguing over who would carry the bags out to the truck. Cora shook her head, finished rinsing her mouth, and went to join the fray.

By the time Lydia and Khrys finished packing the truck to their satisfaction, Stiles and Cora were loitering on the front porch, Harry wobbling back and forth with careful steps between them as they waited.

"Come on, at least let me practice my unlock spell at the next stop." 

"You're too slow." 

"Which is the point of practice," he retorted, then turned to Lydia. "Are we good on gas?" 

"We've got enough to get us through Wyoming at least." 

Stiles nodded when Lydia handed him a can of coffee. "Thanks. Hopefully we'll run across a pharmacy soon."

They piled everyone into the vehicles. Harry kicked up a fuss when Stiles tried to buckle him into his carseat, but thankfully he calmed down when Nik climbed into the backseat next to him. He seemed to have taken a shine to baby Harry - possibly in lieu of having a game to entertain him. 

Since Lydia was their navigator, whatever vehicle she was in was in the lead. Cora glanced over Maria's head, to where Lydia had on a slight scowl of concentration as she traced a new route. "Do you want us to stop today?"

"Not unless we come across a pharmacy. We got enough water and juice from the gas station for a few days," Lydia said. "West for about twenty five miles, then turn south onto 85. I hope it'll be two, but realistically, three days to get across Wyoming and drop them off in Idaho." Lydia looked up and gave Cora a small smirk. "I'm sure the Sawtooth Grove will be grateful we brought their kids back. We can formalize a treaty with them." 

"By the time we get home we'll have allies in every state in the north west quadrant of the country," Cora said, rolling her eyes when Lydia nodded in satisfaction. Other than periodic glances in the rearview to make sure the Jeep hadn't foundered, she kept her eyes on the road. Even with the snow chains the road was treacherously slick with snow.

"Do you have any trees in your Beacon Hills stories?" Maria asked. She had her legs curled underneath of herself, and one hand on Mister Fluffy, who was dozing in a compact ball between her and Lydia, twitching occasionally. 

Cora squinted behind her sunglasses. "What have you been telling her?" 

Lydia ignored her, tapping her chin. "You mean dryads? No... and I told you about the Nemeton - well, I told you about the darach and the alpha pack."

"And using her sacrifice to bring Boyd and... um, the other girl beta back to life," Maria reminded her. Cora gave Lydia a disbelieving look. 

"Erica," Lydia corrected. "And it's a lot smaller than Chicago. After Derek and Scott made both pack's work together, we've been fairly peaceful. Not many people want to mess with two alphas together, especially after we took care of the alpha pack." 

Cora started to relax, before Lydia brightened. "Oh, but something else did come of the darach thing - she let an evil spirit out of a tree, and it possessed Stiles." 

Maria gasped. "Stiles?"

"He almost killed Scott before we figured out what was going on, and Kira's mom and Deaton managed to exorcise him," Lydia added.

"Lydia! You're going to give her nightmares."

Lydia scoffed. "I'm preparing her - the world has more magic by an order of magnitude than it did a week ago, she needs to know what can happen so we can fix it." 

"I'm not scared!" Maria protested. "What else happened?" 

"Then there was the wendigo family." Lydia went on to describe the Walcott family to a fascinated Maria. Cora groaned and tried to tune her out. Dealing with it the first time was bad enough. That lasted until they turned south, but after she seemed at a loss, so Cora took over. 

"Has she told you about the town now - or before the spell, anyway?" 

Maria shook her head, and Cora continued, "Well, we're pretty close to the ocean, surrounded on two sides by forest. After the wendigos, we'd been pretty peaceful for the last three years or so, until the hunters outed us. Since we've got two alphas not many people like to mess with us. My brother Derek is our alpha, Stiles' brother Scott is the other. My friend Erica and I own a shop together." 

"Erica, the girl who came back to life? What kind of shop?"

Cora nodded. "An auto shop. We fix things. Cars, motorcycles, stuff like that."

"Cool! So that's how you got the truck to work and keep fixing Stiles' Jeep?" 

"Yeah. You should ask Stiles about his dad - he's a sheriff, so he's got some good stories," Cora allowed. "How long am I on this road?"

 

The snow was noticeably slowing them. When they stopped in Lusk to raid an auto shop, Cora could see Lydia holding back about their pace. But she bit her tongue, stepping back while Cora replaced a balding tire on the Jeep and Stiles topped up all the fluids in both vehicles. While they took care of that, Lydia took Khrys down the street to a drug store. When she got back with a bag full of rattling bottles, she was calmer. 

"Sorry, Stiles," Lydia said, bumping his arm. "We'll keep looking." 

"I've got enough liquid caffeine to keep me for a week or two," he said, with a weak smile. "Oh! And I forgot to tell you - I came across a variation on Bea's warding spell when Maria and I were reading through her book..." 

Cora wandered over to the kids when Lydia and Stiles began talking excitedly about runes and focus objects. "Everyone good?" 

"Yeah," Khrys said. "I can drive for a while, if you want!" she looked hopeful, but Cora shook her head. The sky was slate grey with a side of darker gray clouds, broken up by the mountains in the distance, and she could smell a mixture of moisture and cold on the wind.

"The roads are too bad right now. And it smells like it's going to snow again," Cora told them. Immediately Nik and Maria looked around, before Maria nodded her head sagely. 

"Yep, it looks like snow," she agreed. "Are we gonna get stuck here?" 

Cora called over to Lydia who scowled at the mention of snow, but bit her tongue once more. They swapped around so she and Stiles could keep talking about magic as they drove. As they went, Cora kept an eye on the grey sky with a sort of relaxed feeling of dread. She knew it was going to snow. She knew Lydia would flip out, and that when they would stop for the night, and Lydia would stay up, stressed about getting home. It was coming, and there wasn't anything she could do but hope that the snowfall would be light and over quickly.

 

 

They stopped a few more times as the afternoon wore on to let the kids stretch their legs, take bathroom breaks and have snacks. There didn't come across many towns as they worked their way slowly down the road, but they grabbed whatever they could find, letting the kids play musical chairs with the seating arrangements when they called a halt. More of the places they stopped showed signs of previous looting, and they were stuck with the leftover canned goods, clearing out employee lockers and checking in back rooms for unpacked stock. Cora extricated an emergency kit and a half full gas can from a truck on the side of the road just past Manning, and in Douglas Lydia liberated several waiting prescriptions, along with a bagful of other over the counter drugs. 

"Come on, let's keep moving. Also, happy Christmas," she told him, tossing Stiles a bottle of Dexedrine.

He let out a quiet cheer, not even bothered when she grabbed him by the jacket and pulled him out of the pharmacy after her.

They managed another few miles before Cora grimaced. "Lydia." She looked up from the pharmacy bag she was sorting and let out a curse. A fat snowflake had landed in the center of the windshield. Followed quickly by more. The windshield was covered in seconds, and Cora flipped on the wipers. She turned them to full speed a moment later and slowed as the wind picked up with the snow.

Lydia picked up the radio and said, "Are you seeing this?" 

"Back to the last town or keep going?" Stiles returned after a moment.

"Keep going, if it gets worse we'll turn around."

Cora agreed, and they continued on, silent now as the drivers watched for the road, and the passengers all watched for an end to the snow. 

It was long enough, and the snow grew heavy enough, that Cora seriously considered turning back despite Lydia's set face - before she hear Nik yelling from the Jeep, "Barn!" 

Cora slowed down carefully, the scraping of the tires through the snow blocking any further conversation until the radio crackled and Khrys said, "Nik saw a barn back here. Stiles said we're going to try it. Turning left in about 100 feet." Lydia responded with a quick affirmative. It took about five careful shifts before Cora had the truck turned around to follow the Jeep down an off ramp and onto a two lane road, then onto what turned out to be an epically long driveway, rutted with age. 

Lydia peered out the windshield at the large house and made a considering noise. It looked like a good place to spend the night. A chimney, what looked like a stovepipe for a woodstove, and a large pile of wood near the house.

"It's dark," Cora said, but with some skepticism. Dark didn't necessarily mean abandoned.

"We'll see," Lydia said. She glared out at the snow, which was steadily growing heavier as the made their way slowly forward. 

They stopped the vehicles a bit from the house, still running, and Lydia got out and jogged around to the driver's seat of the truck while Cora got out to check out the house. Before she could shut the door, the cat leapt over her and out into the snow, meowing in indignation as his legs broke through the snow and his belly fur dragged against the top layer. 

Cora gave the cat a skeptical look, but it trotted toward the house, looking behind just once as if to chide her for not following along quickly enough. She followed the cat. Hearing and smell told her nothing over the truck engines, the snow, and the sharp wind, so she did a quick visual check, circling around the house on the cat's heels and not finding anything that pointed to signs of life. There wasn't any smoke from the chimney, nor any tracks that she could see, though she supposed they could have been covered already by the snowfall.

When she returned to the sphere of the Jeep's headlights she waved that she was going in, then checked a few of the ground floor windows - no point forcing the door if they'd be staying there. One of the living room windows had a badly latched storm window, and one hard shove had it opening. The inside window was easy after that, and when she paused to listen again, the cat easily cleared the windowsill. She looked at the cat, making himself at home on a couch, before shrugging and sliding inside. She did a quick walkthrough, but it was really too cold inside for anyone to be living there. The last bedroom yielded the owners - both lying in their bed, hands curled together in death. Cora stared for a moment, taking in the pill bottles on the nightstand, then reached in and closed the door, shutting it a bit harder than necessary, before going back out the truck. 

"Empty?" Lydia asked. 

Cora glanced over where Maria was slumped against the window, half asleep, and shook her head. "Two... older couple. They must have owned this place. Dead." 

There was a long pause, Lydia's face considering before she asked, "Is the house habitable?" 

"What - I mean. Yeah, I suppose. It must have been cold enough to keep them... preserved." 

"Fine. Otherwise, the house was clear?"

"Lydia-" 

"Don't worry. Stiles and I will take care of it. Keep the kids occupied for a few minutes, I’ll yell when you can bring in what we need for the night." She turned off the truck and slid past her before Cora could object, heading to the Jeep. A moment later, Stiles murmured something to Khrys, then followed her inside the house. 

"Are we stopping?" Maria asked, still half asleep. Inside the house, Stiles and Lydia were debating the best way to carry the bodies out. Fabric rustled, followed by a grunt of effort then quick footsteps across tile. A door opened and she heard Stiles cursing the weather. 

"Cora?" Maria sat up, watching her closely. Twenty yards away, she heard Lydia give the all clear. 

Cora looked up and managed a half smile and a nod. "Yeah. We're done for the night. Grab your bag, let's start bringing our things in."


	4. Chapter 4

"How far?" Unlike the 'all clear' Lydia had given, this was clearly a question for Stiles. 

"What?" he grunted out the question, bent half over to balance as they made their way down a precarious set of stairs. 

"Okay, pause," Lydia said when they both were back on the ground. She huffed out a breath, readjusted her grip on the blanket. "Okay, go. How far did we make it before we stopped here?"

"We were about five minutes out of town when the snow hit, going about thirty five?" he guessed. He jerked his head at the barn. "In there?" Lydia puffed out an agreement, and he continued. "Then we slowed down, maybe 10-15 miles per hour for...?"

"Twenty minutes, at least." She stopped as they reached the barn. The large door was heavily crusted in snow. Exchanging a look with Stiles, they carefully set down their burden and moved to the edge of the door, Lydia crouching a bit while Stiles reached over her so they could both shove at the door. "So maybe one-twenty, one-thirty miles from where we stayed last. And we're still forty some miles out of the next decent sized town. 300 plus miles until we hit Idaho." 

Stiles managed an agreement, and after a few minutes of huffing and puffing they managed to slide the door enough to go inside. Directing him to send the light ball ahead, they didn't see anything but stalls mostly filled with years of miscellany. Lydia leaned back, stretching her back, then they carefully picked up their burden and carried it to a mostly empty stall. 

"At this rate, it'll be three more days to even get out of the state," Lydia said, after they set down the former owners of their newest night's shelter.

"It's winter.” Then, “Should we say something?" Stiles said, awkward. He bent down to tuck the blanket back around an exposed wrist. 

Considering it made Lydia feel slightly ill, but Cora would probably feel better knowing about it. She thought for a moment, then remembered a quote from her English credit the previous semester. 

"The valiant never taste of death but once.

Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,

It seems to me most strange that men should fear,

Seeing that death, a necessary end,

Will come when it will come."

After a moment's consideration, she tacked on, "Rest in peace." Then she pulled Stiles away from the stall, still gaping. "Warding?"

"Oh. Right. Uh, I think I've got some charcoal, I could mark off a safe room in the house." He dug through his kit and held up a sad stick of charcoal. 

"I'd rather more than just one room. I liked the idea of having a sort of early warning signal." She held her arms out, waiting as Stiles sifted through his spark kit, occasionally setting a marble or some other small object in her cupped hands. 

"I... do, too." He shrugged helplessly. "But I don't know how to do that. The wards Bea showed me before required either a closed circle or using physical boundaries like walls, and I'm not laying mountain ash in the snow. Anyway, I'm thinking more notice-me-not than a barrier. I don't want another thing where we hide in the house while Cora beats people up." Stiles looked down at the sad collection in her hands and shrugged expansively. "But unless we call it a day way earlier, we don't have time to 'bury significant items in increments of seven' with half an hour of chanting around every place we stop for the night." 

"There's nothing for more temporary protections?" Lydia asked. Stiles flipped the book back open and started paging through it. She sighed and tilted her head back, glaring at the ceiling of the barn. The others were probably inside, starting dinner and getting settled in for the night. The look on Cora's face, when she told her that she and Stiles would take care of it made Lydia almost glad to be in the frigid barn, trying to figure out wards. Not that she was ashamed of the decision. They were in a precarious situation. Pragmatism won out over squeamishness every time.

"Blood or hair?" he muttered. Lydia jerked her head down to stare at him. "Yeah, I'm not bleeding on any trees. It'd probably turn into a cannibalistic Ent. Hm. The true name of the one you wish to deter?" He thumbed through his notebook. "If I knew who I wanted to deter, I wouldn't need a ward..."

"So, I don't need these?" she asked, lifting her cupped hands up. 

"Probably not- oh, okay then," Stiles rolled his eyes as she unceremoniously grabbed his pack and dumped the handful of stuff in. 

"What about mirrors? They're symbolic, they reflect..." Lydia said, arresting him mid reach. 

"That could work..." He started paging through a different book. Lydia sighed. If she didn't stop him, he'd end up in a day long research spiral, and they still wouldn't have wards. And she didn't have the time or effort to spare for that. After a moment, she remembered that Stiles had been into divination for a semester in college. He still half believed, and that was a better starting off point than obscure languages, or fictional magic depictions that he was too familiar with to put the full force of his belief behind. Tarot wouldn't work, and neither would tea leaves or chicken bones, but... 

"Runes." 

"Runes," Stiles repeated, skeptical.

"Right. Ihwaz, if I remember correctly, is protection and deflection. There should be a drawing of it in my research notes..." She reached over to dig through his bag, pulling out a small leather bound notebook, liberally stuffed with bookmarks and sticky notes. 

"Why-"

"They came up when we researching the _draugr_." True enough, even if they were for translation purposes, not the other rune meanings her research had led her to so many times she'd inadvertently absorbed them. She flipped to the correct section. "It's like - a 'Z' but backwards and rotated so the middle stroke is a vertical line." 

"Seriously? Ugh. Glad I was out of town for that." He redirected to pull out a marker, grabbing her palm and tracing what she described before she could pull away. She gave him a sour look, pulling her hand away irritably. Inspecting the mark, she nodded grudgingly.

"Close enough."

"And I can use this!" Stiles said, holding up a pocket knife triumphantly. "We can carve it into the fence posts. Trees, too. As long as they're planted in the ground, I think it'll work. It just has to be," he paused to consult the book. "A closed circle. Hm. Did they work before?"

"Hmm?" 

"With the draugr?" 

Now she was doubly glad Cora wasn't with them. "We used them to get rid of the draugr," she hedged. It wasn't entirely false - she used them to translate an ancient bestiary, telling them the draugr had to be beheaded and the heads drowned in seawater before they would stop, but Stiles looked suitably impressed.

The two of them spent a moment rearming themselves with their weather gear before venturing out into the blowing snow. There was a light shining through one of the windows, so Cora had gotten the kids in. She pointed it out to Stiles before leading him over to one of the large trees flanking the driveway. She turned so she was blocking the wind as he leaned in to carve the lines on the tree. Nothing happened, and he looked at her with a shrug. 

"Take off your glove," Lydia suggested. He gave her a dubious look, but peeled off one glove and tentatively pressed his hand over the rune. "Tell it to protect us." 

He gave her a look, intoned, "Like, 'yo, tree, feel like misdirecting anyone who comes at us'?" 

Believe," she said, drawing out the word mockingly. He flipped her off. "Seriously. Deaton always said if you don't think it'll work, it won't work."

Stiles frowned in concentration, jabbing the carving again. "Maybe it felt a bit warmer?"

"Stiles-" 

"You try it, then." 

"Banshee," she said archly. "Death magic only. I'm just being nice and keeping you company, but I'd be happy to go inside." He grumbled and waved her off, walking to a fence post near the barn. 

"They'll work," he said with a stern expression she was more used to seeing on his father's face. "Go ahead. Ask if Maria wants to give it a shot?"

"Yeah." Lydia watched as Stiles carved the rune in three quick flicks of the knife and pressed his thumb against it. His face was set in fierce concentration and there wasn't anything else she could do to help. She turned and walked back toward the house - and then a bright light blinded her, and she was wet and cold with Stiles and Cora both leaning over her. 

"Lydia? Lydia!" 

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Stiles was looking her over frantically, and she managed to wave an arm at him. "You're alive, holy shit." He sat back, half covered in snow. At Lydia's instruction, Cora helped her sit up. She took a moment to do a systems check, moving her arms and legs, and after finding them all whole, allowed Cora to sweep her up into her arms.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you, I swear!" Khrys came hurrying after Cora as they tracked back toward the house. 

"What happened?" she asked. Over Cora's shoulder, she could see the the truck, parked haphazardly, and the mess of snow she'd just been picked up from. 

"Cora let Khrys drive the truck back to the barn for practice," Stiles said, "and she, uh. Grazed you." 

"I was going really slow," Khrys said quickly. "I swear, I didn't see you!" She repeated this in a few different iterations until Lydia managed to get a word in edgewise. 

"It was an accident. I'm pretty sure I'm okay, the snow cushioned my fall. I think it just knocked me back." She looked up at Cora's fiercely worried expression, then back to Khrys, who trailed them into the house, shooing the kids out of the way as they tried to crowd around. Cora took them both into what looked like a guest room, and Stiles followed in, shutting the door with a speaking look at Khrys. 

"Okay, Cora?" 

"Not much pain," she reported. Lydia craned her neck and saw a few gray veins standing out on Cora's hand, until Stiles waved her away. 

"Okay, stop pulling her pain so we can see if she's actually hurt," Stiles said, directing Cora to set her on the bed. Lydia didn't roll her eyes when she and Stiles stood back, eyeing her worriedly, but it was an effort. 

"I feel okay. My shoulder hurts a bit, I think I landed on it." She let Cora help her take her coat off, then pull her shirt back to look at her shoulder. It was red but not swollen, and the pain was negligible. 

"Hopefully just a bruise. Everything moving okay?" Before she could answer, he was grabbing for her hand and examining it. "It knocked you back, it's lucky your arm isn't broken..." he paused, still holding her bare hand. "Lydia. The rune I drew on your hand is gone." 

She jerked her hand back and stared at her unmarked palm. Then looked up to meet Cora and Stiles' wide eyes. "Well. You wanted a notice-me-not." 

Cora looked confused, but Stiles barked out a laugh. "I guess it works."

"I told you," Lydia said, projecting confidence she was actually starting to feel. "I'll check my notes. There was a traveler's rune, if I remember correctly."

"You usually do. I'll go do a few more around the perimeter," Stiles said, giving her one last assessing look. He stood and opened the door, snorting when three kids nearly tumbled in, "Maria, you want to do some magic?" 

"Can I turn invisible?" Maria asked, scrambling for her boots and coat and following him out through the foyer. 

"Good question, kid. I have no idea. Maybe Mr. Fluffy can test it for us." She protested, then launched into a petition for the next spell she wanted to learn, still talking even as they stepped into the blowing wind. 

"That was pretty cool," Nik said. "Like Stiles is a mage, and he made you into a rogue with a spell." 

"Thanks," Lydia said, rolling her eyes. She gave Cora a gentle shove to move out of her way then stood, rotating her shoulder wincingly. "Who's watching the baby?" 

Khrys and Nik exchanged a look and rushed back down the hall, bickering the whole way. She waited until the expression on Cora's face had relaxed, and she reported everything was fine. "They're arguing over who watches the baby and who watches the road now," Cora said, fond and exasperated. "Did that rune he was talking about really...?" 

Shrugging, Lydia examined her bare palm. "Apparently. Oh, and babe?" she waited until Cora turned her full attention to her words, then said, "If Stiles asks? We defeated the _draugr_ with runes." 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look at me, making up more magic stuff


	5. Chapter 5

December 27 

Outside of Douglas, Wyoming

 

"Time to go?" Lydia muttered sleepily when she woke. No reply was forthcoming, and she opened her eyes, glaring around at her surroundings. The tent was empty, and she crawled out, dragging a blanket with her and shivering a bit as the cooler air hit her bare ankles. She glanced around, seeing Cora standing at the window, and frowned, walking over to join her. She leaned up on her tiptoes to look over Cora's shoulder and recoiled. Thick, heavy snowflakes were falling with a vengeance, adding to the several inches already on the ground. 

"This is ridiculous," Lydia fumed quietly, glaring out the window. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"We haven't eaten yet. The kids are playing a board game in the other room." 

"We could try-"

"Lydia. I'll start breakfast." 

"It's not even windy, we can see all the way to the road." 

Cora gave her a disbelieving look. "We were doing twenty in the two inches of snow yesterday, and there's at least five now, and still coming down. Honestly, if it was going to snow, here's a good place to wait it out. There's a wood stove, a fireplace, and plenty of food." 

 

Lydia stared at her, then looked around at their surroundings - yes, a fireplace, but they were sleeping in a tent, haphazardly perched on top of a mattress. They had no plumbing, no doctors, scant medicine, and four kids to keep entertained and healthy. "Wait it out? We're already days behind schedule!"

 

"As much as I don't want to stay, I also don't want to get stuck in the snow somewhere," Cora said gently. "We can't call 911 if we get stuck in a ditch, and we've gone too far to try for a more southern route."

Lydia drew in a breath to refute that, but the crash of a chair being knocked over stopped her. Both of them turned to see Maria standing in the kitchen near a toppled chair. 

"Sorry," she said, looking at them with wide eyes. "I heard yelling." 

Stiles walked in behind her, Harry on his hip and raised his eyebrows. "What's up?" 

"It's still snowing, we were deciding what to do." 

"How about breakfast? Maria, you want to go see if you can find some new toys in the other room to keep Harry entertained while we cook?" 

She backed out of the kitchen and into the hall, still giving them wary looks. 

"Sorry," Cora said. "Just. Fucking snow." 

"Hey, let's not around the baby. He's gonna be repeating this sh-- stuff any time now." 

Lydia walked over to her bag and pulled on a pair of jeans and a jacket over her t-shirt. "We've got oatmeal... I think we've got a box of the cereal he likes, too, out in the truck." 

Taking the out in the spirit it was intended, Cora said she would go, pulling over her boots and coat for the trip to the barn. Stiles glanced at Lydia, who was looking out the window again. 

"Okay?" 

"Yeah." She started, then managed a rueful smile. "You know how much I hate camping." 

 

A clatter of feet brought them both on alert, and Maria darted into the kitchen at high speed. She narrowly averted running into Lydia, veering around her and snatching at Stiles' sleeve then tugging him to the bedroom the kids had claimed for their own. Stiles trailed along after cautiously, glancing around the room. There was a board game, abandoned on the floor, and Nik was drawing in a notepad while Khrys read. They barely looked up as Maria directed him right to the window. 

 

"It's a chicken house!" she crowed delightedly, waving for Stiles to look, as well.

 

"Good eyes, Maria," Lydia said from beside him, peering through the snowy gloom at the snow covered chicken coop sheltered next to a small outbuilding. "I didn't even notice it when we checked the outside. I wonder if there're any eggs left?" 

"Would they even be good?" 

"I'll check!" Maria said, barely stopping for Stiles to make her put on her coat and gloves before racing outside.

They watched through the window as she skidded around the house, then peered into the coop. She stumbled back half a step, and Stiles unconsciously clenched a fist. Then she was waving frantically for them to come outside. Stiles exchanged a glance with Lydia, dropping Harry into the arms of a bewildered Khrys and they tumbled out of the house after her, barely taking the time to cover up properly. 

"The chickens are still here?" Lydia asked, incredulous. "I mean - I don't exactly think magic when I think of chickens. I guess there was that dog with the grandparents." 

"He was a familiar," Stiles corrected. "And we saw those herds in Nebraska. Plus Maria's cat." Lydia gave him a look, and Stiles shrugged. Mister Fluffy was definitely _not_ a normal cat, but he wasn't going to be the one to tell Maria.

"We should bring them with us," Lydia said. Stiles glanced over, alarmed at the gleam in her eyes. 

He surveyed the fenced in chicken yard with a sinking feeling in his stomach. "I'm going to have to go catch chickens, aren't I." 

 

"Cora's faster," Lydia said as the woman in question joined them, then grinned a decidedly evil grin. "We get to figure out a way to bring them home." 

 

 

 

 

 

"Oh my god, surely there are chickens closer to California?" Cora groaned, when informed she was to add chicken wrangler to her list of life skills. She huddled into her coat as she peered into the covered chicken yard. "What's wrong with that one?" Stiles nudged his light ball in that direction and Cora wrinkled her nose at the chicken splayed on the ground.

 

"One of the chicken is already dead," Lydia informed her. "Cannibalized." 

 

Cora made a horrified face and Stiles peered back into the chicken run with awed disgust. "So, what the three that are left voted and that one lost?" 

 

"They hadn't been fed. It's winter so there aren't many bugs or plants they can supplement their diet with, and their owners have been dead for several days. Chicken have a fast metabolism." Lydia was already pushing a bowl of water into the pen, that the bedraggled hens pounced on, followed by a second bowl of feed.

 

"That's hardcore," Stiles said, watching the chickens with bright interest, who seemed to be reviving somewhat.

 

"I don't want cannibal chickens." 

 

Lydia gave Cora a stern look. "You've decided to try vegetarianism? They'll be fine with regular food. Tomorrow, Stiles and I will figure out a cage. Check for eggs, will you?" 

 

"I don't even like chicken," Cora complained. Lydia rolled her eyes and followed Stiles to the house, taking the flashlights with them. 

 

"Damn it." Cora glared into the chicken coop. The chickens gobbled their food blissfully uncaring of the werewolf outside their door.

 

 

By lunch time, the snow had died down to a few flurries, leaving the roads and grounds thoroughly covered, and Cora was convinced to let the kids make a run outside to bring more wood up to the covered porch to dry out. If it started up again... well. Cora didn't want to think about what Lydia and Khrys would be like to live with. The only people really happy about this were Maria and Harry, who seemed to be enjoying the longer than usual break from driving. Though it would be nice to go for a run and sleep in once in a while. 

 

A noise behind her drew her attention, and she glanced back. Maria rubbed her eyes and walked past her into the kitchen, holding up the box of instant potatoes Stiles had left out in question. 

 

"I'll make lunch. You want to stir the potatoes?" Cora asked. Maria nodded in agreement, grabbing a long wooden spoon and sliding a chair over to the stove. She gave Cora a pointed look when she didn't move fast enough. 

 

Cooking on the old fashioned stove brought back memories of her own grandparent's house. Of course, she didn't have to pour water out of a bottle into the pot there. Or add more wood to the fire. And she definitely had never had beef jerky, canned carrots, instant potatoes and slightly frozen oranges for lunch. She worked quickly, noting through the incessant wind the steps on the porch creaking, then a muffled curse she identified as Stiles. He shuffled into small foyer, shedding snow covered clothes around, saying something to Khrys, standing watch at the living room window, and by that time Lydia was walking in. When they made into the kitchen, red cheeked from the cold, she was dishing the food out.

 

"Ooh, can I have some?" Stiles said. Maria made an indignant noise and hopped off the chair, stealing the first plate. 

 

"I'll watch while you guys eat," Lydia said, leaning stiffly against the wall and glaring at the snow that still fell heavily, leaning up against the vacated window. "The chicken crate is done, we just need to get it strapped into the truck and move some baggage around, then we can round them up before we leave," Lydia added.

“We could use a wind spell to blow the snow off the road,” Maria suggested thickly, mouth full of potatoes. 

“Or we could just find a snow plow,” Khrys said, walking in on the tail of the conversation and grabbing a plate from the counter. “Do we have any pepper?”

Stiles dropped his head on the table and made a noise between a shout and a groan, while Lydia stood very, very still, and tried not to turn red. 

Khrys looked between them, bewildered until Cora said, with great dignity, “Listen, I lived in South America, and this is the first time I’ve seen snow in a decade.” She paused, then glanced back at Lydia, who was thin lipped with annoyance. “Babe?" 

"Right," Lydia said, after a long moment to compose herself. "Cora and I will go back to the last town and see what we can find. "We'll try the city buildings and if that doesn't pan out we'll check the schools and then houses." She cut a glance at Stiles. "You can handle things here?" 

Stiles waved a hand negligently. “We got this. Radio when you find something.” 

 

 

The snow picked up again shortly after Cora and Lydia left. When the sun went down with no contact, Stiles was torn between annoyance and worry. After another hour went by with no word, he was tipped further towards worry, and Khrys volunteered to make the trek to the Jeep for a bit and try to raise them. He made supper with Nik's help, spent two exhausting hours trying to get Maria to focus on magic practice while working on his own research - with a break that, again, went unmarked by a call from Lydia and Cora. He even tried scrying, but all he could see in the water was snow covered buildings. 

When Khrys came back in, she found him sitting on the armchair in front of the living room window, still greyed out from the blowing snow. 

"If I hadn't -" 

"Hey," Stiles interrupted. "Don't give yourself too much credit. We'd have eventually remembered that you mountain folks have ways to rid yourself of the demon snow." 

“Now, get some sleep, because I'm waking you up in a few hours to keep watch," he said. She nodded and crawled back into the tent. Stiles' smile disappeared, and he stood. 

Restless with anxiety, he paced the hall, alternatively peering through the back door and the living room window. On his third circuit, he pulled up in surprise. He could see the barn from the back door - and, he realized, the constant noise from the storm had died down. Hurrying back to the living room, he found Maria blinking out of the open tent flap at the moon. The storm was over. Stiles breathed a sigh of relief, then moved to crouch down next to her. 

"Can you keep an eye on things for a couple minutes? I'm going to run out the radio and see if I can reach them now." 

Maria nodded quickly. "I'll make sure no one sneaks up on us," she said firmly, flicking her fingers. Her mouth curved into a small, pleased grin when the plastic ring on her finger began glowing brightly. 

"Good one," Stiles said, ruffling her hair. "I'll be right back." 

He felt foolish, but he approached the barn with something like trepidation. The metal of the Jeep burned with cold on his bare hands, and his breath steamed up the driver's side window moments after he slid into the driver seat. 

Holding his breath, he flipped on the radio. 

“- is traveler, please respond.” A pause, then, “Calling base, this is traveler, please respond.” 

Stiles let out an explosive sigh of relief and fumbled the handset. “Traveler, this is base. Everyone good?” 

“Good, and we found a truck. We’re about twenty miles back - will you be okay if we stay here for the night?” 

“We’re fine. We’ll see you in the morning. Stay safe.” 

Stiles waited a moment, until Lydia radioed back, “Same. See you in the morning.” He shut off the radio and went back in to share the good news. 


	6. Chapter 6

December 28

 

"Victory!" Stiles called when Cora and Lydia came bouncing up the drive an hour after sunrise in an old truck with a plow attached to the front. He had heard the truck before he saw it, and had sent Maria and Nik to the basement with Harry, while Khrys stayed upstairs to help him stand guard. Once he made out the flash of red hair in the driver's seat, and had confirmed it was Lydia and Cora with the binoculars, he sent Khrys back in to tell the kids it was safe to come out and to finish their breakfasts. Still feeling a little jittery with leftover adrenaline, he walked out onto the porch to take a closer look.

The truck was loud, old, and the paint was peeling off in several places, but there was a clear path from the plow behind it. Lydia pulled up the truck up along the porch and hopped out. 

"Sorry -" she began, but the door to the house slammed open and Maria ran out to the porch, Nik half a step behind, and the clamor of the kids drowned out anything else she might have said. Maria threw her arms around Lydia's waist. Stiles turned to tell the kids to go get their shoes on, when Cora came around the truck and took the three steps up the porch in one, tucking Stiles into a lightning quick hug and muttering an apology before going over to toss a giggling Maria over her shoulder and take her back into the house, with Nik on her heels. Stiles started to follow, but Lydia touched his arm. 

"Seriously. We should have left earlier and come back last night. It won't happen again." Lydia looked at him seriously until Stiles nodded. 

"It worked out in the end," he said with a wry smile, returning the peace offering in kind. "We've still got a couple things to pack up and then we can make an early start." 

"Good. Anything exciting happen?" she asked, eyeing the rifle Khrys settled across her lap when she sat on the edge of the porch. 

"She can't hit anything smaller than a house unless it’s about five feet away, but she can pull a scary face and she won’t shoot herself in the foot," Stiles shrugged. Lydia muffled a laugh into her scarf.

They went into the house, hearing Cora ribbing the kids about taking the last of the oatmeal. 

“We packed up what we could. Have you guys eaten?” 

“On the way back.” Lydia looked approvingly at the bags piled neatly by the door. “Everything packed?” 

“We still have one thing left.”

 

 

 

 

An hour, several band aids, and three skinny chickens later - "Hens," Lydia insisted - Stiles and Cora managed to wrangle the depleted flock into the slightly cockeyed wooden crate with chicken wire over the top that took up over the back half of the bed of the truck. They'd filled it with straw and tied it down and the chickens seemed at peace with their new transportation, diving back into the food that Maria had eagerly placed in with them. 

"A masterpiece," Cora said flatly. 

"I'd like to see you do better with a handsaw and a staple gun," Stiles muttered, stalking off to take his turn in the bath. 

"Happy now?" Cora asked, turning to Lydia. She nodded slowly. 

"I'm not sure how we're going to let them out to exercise." 

Cora let out a long sigh. "I hope we don't find any other livestock, because they’re not going to fit. Maybe we could stay for another day, just so everyone could have a break?" she ventured.

Lydia's face flashed through a myriad of expressions, before settling on a scowl.

“We’ll take a break when we get back to Beacon Hills. In the meantime, everyone's just going to have to deal with it."

 

 

 

 

"We need to stop," Lydia finally radioed over, five hours into their snowplow adventure. It was well past dark and the tail lights were all Stiles could see of the truck ahead of him as it slowed to a stop. "I can't see where the road is supposed to be."

Stiles breathed a quiet sigh of relief, exchanging a look with Khrys in the passenger seat. She pointed at the map, and Stiles picked up the radio.

"There's a town on the map we got from the gas station a few miles off," Stiles suggested. "We could try that. About ten miles on this road," he said, and handed off the radio. She detailed the route and Stiles followed the other truck as it started up again, careful to stay in the narrow line of plowed road.

They were about a half mile further down, when the plow truck stopped again, then pulled off to the right. 

"What are they doing?" Stiles muttered, following them a good distance back. He picked up the radio. "What's going on?" 

"Ranch," Lydia replied shortly. "The snow should cover our tracks."

"Where the heck..." 

"There's a sign," Nik said, leaning over the front seat and pointing. "See, Homestead Ranch." 

Stiles squinted through the blowing snow, just barely making out the outline of the sign. "If you say so."

 

 

 

There was, indeed, a ranch. About ten miles off the highway, and thankfully Nik was willing to play endless games of 'hand me the thing, take the thing back' when Harry woke up, saw he was in the truck still, and started crying. The house, when they reached it after approximately seven and a half miles of driveway, was dark. It was a two story with a heartening array of chimneys and large outbuilding behind. 

"Maybe no one's home," Khrys ventured. 

"Oh, sweet summer child," Stiles said, pulling in after the other truck. "We'll wait until Cora checks it out first." 

Cora was a dark figure against the storm, and Stiles squinted as she trudged through the snow and up to the house, climbing the porch to peer in through the windows. Then she jumped back into a defensive crouch and Stiles reached for his gun.

 

 

 

Cora caught the scent just as the door slammed open and the barrel of a shotgun emerged. One of the vehicle doors opened with a creak and Cora raised a hand to wave them off. 

"Sorry, we were checking if the house was occupied. We don't want any trouble." 

"And what the hell do you want?" 

Cora shifted a bit so both vehicles were clearly visible. Or as visible as they could be with the snow blowing nearly sideways. "Just a place to stay until the snow stops." She sneezed, and looked up sharply. "Mountain lion?" 

"Hmph." The door opened further, showing an older woman with long black hair liberally streaked with gray holding the shotgun. It was lowered reluctantly. "I prefer werecougar. Wolf?" 

Cora nodded. "There's seven of us, me and four of my pack and two dryads from the Sawtooth grove. Traveler's rights?" 

The woman sighed, standing back from the doorway. "You swear on your pack you won't cause trouble?" When Cora nodded again, she said, "Fine. One night."

"Thanks," Cora said. "We've got chickens -" 

"There's a green shed out back, you can put 'em in the far pen away from mine. Check for eggs while you're in there." 

"Yes, ma'am." Cora ducked back out into the snow, and a few minutes later the rest of them tramped in, wincing at the snow scattering across the carpet. The werecougar pointed at a closet, glancing sharply at their shoes, and they all meekly shed their winter clothes, Lydia helping Maria out of her coat and boots while Stiles attempted to detangle the blanket covering Harry in his carrier. Khrys and Nik hovered awkwardly, squished in against the door until the rest of them moved down the hall so they had enough room to get out of their things. The woman watched dispassionately until they were done, then gestured for them to follow her again, this time bringing them into a warm kitchen, lit by hanging lanterns. 

Lydia sat at the careworn table across from their host and held out her hand. "I'm Lydia Martin. Banshee, Hale Pack." 

The woman nodded and shook her hand. "Lorraine Lewis. Werecougar." She glanced around the table as the rest of them introduced themselves, with Lydia ending at, "And Cora Hale is outside." 

Still obviously wary, Lorraine asked, "Is this your whole pack?" 

Stiles looked up from where he'd been fussing over Harry's damp hair. "No, the rest of us were in California - we're trying to get home." 

She gave a rusty sounding laugh. "Good luck. The roads haven't been plowed since this started and the snow's just been piling up for the last week." 

Lydia winced. "We have a plow, but with the snow coming down..." 

Lorraine nodded. "Well, as long as you're here, you can make yourselves useful. I reckon I'll have more people out here trying to steal my livestock soon enough, and it's only me and my granddaughter, Jamie, right now. She's out in the barn." She drew a chair and sat down across from Lydia. "Now. Tell me what's been going on out there." 

Glancing at Stiles, Lydia said, "Do you mind if we settle everyone first? It's been a long day." 

"Sure, the guestroom's top of the stairs at the right, and there's a pull out couch in the parlor. No running water inside, but we've got an old hand pump for the well off the back porch, and there's a bucket of water to flush with." 

After a quick glance at Lydia, Stiles gathered up Maria and Harry and nodded for Khrys and Nik to follow as well. 

"I'll send Cora up with their things," Lydia said. She waited until they had gone, before turning back to Lorraine. "How much have you heard?" 

Lorraine scoffed. "The power was already out from a storm the first day - back out here it goes out if there's more than a strong gust of wind. The radio doesn't get great reception so we didn't even realize it was fried at first." Lorraine shrugged. "Then my husband didn't come back from checking on the cattle. My son-in-law disappeared, too, and I couldn't find anyone around in town. We didn't want to go too far off 'cause of the snow."

The front door opened and a blast of cold air made its way into the kitchen before the door shut again. Boots stomped in the hallway, and then Cora called out, "Lydia?"

"Take the stuff upstairs," she said, not taking her eyes off of Lorraine. She reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. "I'm sorry. I'll tell you what we know, but it's not very optimistic." 

"Well, it's done now, so better to know than not," Lorraine said bracingly.

 

 

Upstairs, Harry wobbled around the room while Stiles unpacked a few necessities. It was surprisingly warm, enough that he stripped down to one sweater, and helped Maria out of a few of her layers. Nik was already sitting on the bed digging through his own bag.

"There's a bucket in the bathroom," Khrys called, sounding distressed. Stiles could hear her coming back across the hall, sounding more like an elephant than a rather petite girl. She stopped in the doorway, crossing her arms and frowning at them. "A bucket."

"That's what happens when the power's out," Stiles said, glancing up from the baby bag. He set it aside and stood. "Nik, Maria, can you keep an eye on Harry? Come on, let's see it." 

She followed him back to the bathroom, where there was a bucket sitting next to the toilet, half full of water. 

"See, this is actually better than I expected," Stiles said. "You just pour the water in the tank when you're done to flush. They must have a decent septic system out here. You're lucky it's not a bucket of cat litter with a toilet seat attached, at this point." 

Khrys made a grossed out face. "How am I supposed to take a shower?" 

"Wow, they still had water for showers in the RV? I haven't had a shower since..." He shook his head. "We'll heat up water for baths later, if Lorraine is okay with it." 

"Ugh," Khrys said again, then shooed Stiles out of the bathroom. He snorted and went back down the hall. He paused at the top of the stairs, hearing Lydia still talking downstairs, then went on the bedroom, where Cora was setting down a load of damp bags. 

"I think this should get us through the night," she said, running a hand through her hair to brush the snow off. "I'll get supper to the kitchen." She bumped gently into Stiles as she passed him and Stiles tugged the end of her ponytail. 

"Are we setting up the tent?" Maria asked.

Stiles shrugged. "We can, I'll ask Lorraine about heating. Nik, you want to help Cora with supper?" 

He nodded and slouched out of the room. Maria wrinkled her nose. "Can we practice magic?" 

"Let me talk to Lydia and Cora. Lorraine might not like magic." 

Maria frowned. "How can anyone not like magic? It's so cool."

"I'll talk to them." He bent down and said seriously, "Remember, we don't tell anyone where we're going or what we can do." 

She nodded solemnly. "I won't. Can we go downstairs now?" 

Stiles nodded, then stumbled a half step back when something ran into his legs. He looked down and Harry grinned up at him from where he was clutching at Stiles' jeans, already in a better mood than he'd been in the truck.

"Hey, bud. Ready for supper?" He swung Harry up into his arms and kissed his cheeks, making him giggle. He grabbed the baby bag and carried them both downstairs, then stopped in the doorway to the crowded kitchen, watching Lorraine and a girl around Khrys's age talk to Lydia, while Cora and Nik worked on supper. Maria let go of his hand and ran across the room to stare out the back window. There was a wood stove in the corner, and he realized the guest room was right above the kitchen, which explained why it was so warm. The kitchen table was big enough for eight people to sit around comfortably, and he could see that the door on the north wall near the wood stove led out onto a porch. The window Maria was watching looked out to the east of the house, and Stiles could only see snow - and barely even that, it was so dark. 

"There's a barn!" 

"The cows are out there," the girl said. 

Lydia came over to stand by him. "That's Lorraine's granddaughter, Jamie. I told her what we know, and she’s pretty sure she and Jamie aren’t the only ones left in the area. She knew of a couple witches a town over, and she’s dealt with omegas in the past. Said she’s had some problems with cattle being stolen." 

Stiles nodded. They would be on their guard. Despite Cora's insistence that the traveler's code was inviolate, one had to be cautious in times like these. He touched his mouth and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Lydia flicked a glance at Maria and he nodded. She gave his arm a quick squeeze before breezing over to Lorraine and asking where to find the table settings. 

"Ty," Harry said, hand gripping the neck of Stiles' shirt. Stiles looked down and smiled at him. 

"Right, dinner. I didn't forget." 

He edged into the packed kitchen, settling at the table and making the bottle one handed with the ease of practice, then calling Maria over. 

"Want to give it a try? Your warming spell needs practice." 

She looked at him, then the bottle, brow furrowed, and Stiles nodded. He watched Lorraine and Jamie out of the corner of his eye, knowing Lydia would be on guard, and Cora would pick up her girlfriend's tension. Sometimes a show of power went a long way towards good relations. 

"Warm it up?" Stiles nodded, and she bent close, staring at the bottle. "Warm up, just a little, if it's too hot than Harry can't drink it," she muttered. "Get warm already." 

The noise in the kitchen dimmed, only Nik still talking as he narrated slicing a tomato. Lorraine was watching closely, though she looked like she was trying to be subtle, but Jamie was outright staring. 

"What are you doing?" 

"Magic," Stiles said, watching them both. Lorraine's mouth thinned slightly, but Jamie grinned. 

"Cool!" She scooted his chair closer, fascinated. "Did it work?" 

Stiles reached out and touched the side of the bottle with a cautious finger. It was warm to the touch. "Good job!" He held out a fist and Maria bumped it, grinning widely. He shook up the bottle and tested it on his wrist, before handing it over to Harry. 

He looked up again, and Lorraine had turned back to the counter. Lydia was setting the table, and Cora was mostly relaxed, which he took as a good sign. He turned to glance at Lydia again, and she gave him the barest of nods, before sitting down next to Jamie and starting up a conversation about school, of all things. 

"Dinner's nearly ready," Lorraine announced. "And thank you for your part." 

"Of course," Cora said

 

 

 

After supper, and then a crash course on rounding cattle into the barns for the night (difficult, even for a werewolf working with cattle that were just as eager to get out of the snow), Cora and Lydia lay curled up on the pull out couch in the living room. Lydia ran her fingers through Cora's hair slowly. It was strange being alone, after over a week of sharing a cramped truck cab, or a tent if it was safe enough to set it up, and having to keep watch all night. With the storm there wasn't much danger of anyone finding them. 

"I can hear your brain working," Cora mumbled. "Sleep." 

"I can't help it. I'm trying to work out what we're going to do next. Should we -" 

"Hey, I'm the muscle. You guys can work out a plan in the morning. You won't be much good if you don't sleep though." 

Lydia rolled her eyes, sliding down the bed until Cora's eyes, glinting gold, were level with her. "It's your job to stop me from overthinking, remember. And for once, we're all alone..." 

Cora laughed and tugged Lydia in tight against her. "Genius. See, this is why you're the brains." 


	7. Chapter 7

December 29

It was still snowing. Lydia woke in a grim mood from listening to the shrieking wind most of the night. A quick glance outside confirmed that visibility was nil. She drummed her fingers on the windowsill for an angry moment, before letting out a deep breath and climbing back into bed with Cora. 

“Snowing still?” 

“Blizzard, more like,” Lydia muttered. She snuggled up against her warm girlfriend. “Do you think Lorraine will let us stay another day?” 

“I’m sure she has chores she needs help with,” Cora sighed back. They lay in close silence for a few more minutes, before Cora said, “Maria’s up. Aaaand, now the baby’s up. Come on.” 

They got dressed quickly, Lydia going to the kitchen while Cora headed upstairs. Lorraine was already sitting with a cup of coffee and a plate of toast when Lydia walked in, and gave Lydia an appraising look. Lydia revised her estimation of werecougar hearing and nodded. 

“Good morning. Thanks for letting us stay last night.”

“And now you’ll do me a good turn,” Lorraine said shrewdly. When Lydia nodded, she leaned forward in her chair, eyeing her skeptically. “You know anything about livestock? Or keeping a house?” 

“I’m a fast learner,” Lydia said, crossing her arms. Then she forced herself out of the defensive posture. “Would it be possible for us to stay until the snow dies down?” 

Lorraine took a long drink of her coffee, eyeing Lydia skeptically. Behind her, she could hear Stiles talking to Harry as they came into the kitchen, and Lorraine’s face softened. 

“Of course you can. We could use some help with the chores,” she added carelessly. 

“Of course,” Lydia echoed. “We’ll get everyone up and ready, and meet back here.” 

Stiles glanced between them, then let Lydia propel him back to the stairs. “So, we’re staying…?” 

“Until the snow stops. Get the kids up? I’m sure there’s something they can do to help.” 

Cora passed Stiles on the stairs, followed by a disturbingly awake Jamie. Lydia accepted a kiss from Cora, then led her back into the kitchen for their marching orders. 

 

 

Lorraine took advantage of the extra help to get some of the neglected chores finished. Lydia felt she took direction well enough, even if she didn’t think competent farm hand would be something she could add to her resume. Inside, she and the kids dusted and swept and cleaned the bathrooms after breakfast, while Stiles helped Lorraine in the kitchen, cooking and keeping the baby entertained. When the chores were done, the kids retreated to the upstairs bedroom to entertain themselves until lunch. Cora was the one who took the brunt of the snow, first fixing a rope lead from the barn to the house, and from house to the chicken shed. She and Jamie fed the cattle and chickens, cleaned the barn and chicken shed, then just before lunch came in to wash up and dig into the lunch spread. The food was plentiful if plain, between the ranch stores and the supplies Lydia and the others had brought, and no one left the table hungry. After they cleaned up and dispersed, Lorraine, Harry and Khrys were the only people left in the kitchen. 

"How long does it usually snow here?" Khrys drummed her fingers on the kitchen table, staring outside at the grayed out landscape. Cora and Lydia had retreated to the living room they were using, while Stiles was out in the barn working with Maria on her magic, with Nik and the cows as spectators slash test subjects. Jamie had gone somewhere, not that Khrys cared where. And Lorraine had volunteered to stay with the baby. Harry was stacking blocks with the focus of a bomb defuser. Lorraine looked up from the playpen she was setting up on the kitchen floor at Khrys and smiled slightly.

"Most of the time it's a day, two at most. But you've got over a week of snow piled on the roads now, and it's just going to keep melting and freezing." 

"So we could be stuck here for a while?" Khrys asked, feeling her cheeks heat slightly at the thought. Lorraine chuckled. 

"Could be. Though Miss Martin seemed pretty determined to get home." Lorraine made an 'ah' of satisfaction as she locked the last piece into place. "There are some books in the parlor you’re welcome to.”

Khrys sighed and slumped in her chair. She wanted to go home, but at the same time time she didn't want to get back in the car and spend even longer trying to get through the snow.

“Don’t worry. You’ll get home sooner or later,” Lorraine said. 

Outside, the snow continued unabated, covering up tracks as soon as they were made. But as the day wore on they were able to tune out the constant noise of the wind, doing chores and taking a break to play board games or nap until dinner.

After dinner, Lorraine sat back in her chair. “Alright. You’ve all worked hard, and I thank you. Kids, you get to clean up,” Lorraine said. “And there are some baby things up in the attic you’re welcome to use while you’re here. Jamie can show you,” she added waving Stiles off.

“Cora?” Stiles asked, and Cora nodded and followed Jamie out of the kitchen while Stiles got Harry cleaned up and Lydia supervised the kids as they cleared and washed the dishes. 

“We appreciate you letting us stay,” Stiles said once the kids had cleared out, herded upstairs by Lydia for baths. 

“Well. I can’t say you haven’t been a help.” She paused, then said with deliberate casualness, “My daughter and son in law were visiting his cousins in Mazatlán when this started. It’ll be at least a few more days, if not longer, before they make it back. Especially in this weather.” 

“Long trip,” Stiles agreed. “If there’s anything else you need help with…” 

“Right.” Lorraine stood briskly and went to the stove. “Coffee? We still need to get the bread started for tomorrow.”

Stiles groaned a little as he got to his feet and set Harry in the playpen. “Okay, let’s do this.” 


	8. Chapter 8

December 31

  


"Well, we managed to get to Franklin before the snow started up again," Cora called. Lydia came out of the kitchen and leaned against the stairs as Lorraine followed Cora in. Cora threw her gloves onto the bench by the door and reached down to untie her boots. "We fit all the non perishables we could in the truck, and filled up the truck and couple of gas cans before we headed back. We’ll try again when it lets up.” 

“The roads can ice up pretty quickly, even without snow,” Lorraine said. “But we get snowstorms in April, so there’s not really a safe time to go.” 

“Great.” 

“Fine, so we’ll take it slowly. Plow while it’s not snowing, find the next place we can stop while plowing the road ahead and then stay there until we can find the next place to stop.” 

Lydia dropped her head onto her arms. “I hate this.” 

Stiles sighed, patting her back. “I know. Me, too.”

“Cora?” 

All three of them sit back, looking up at Maria in the doorway. 

“Yes?” 

“...can we read tonight?” 

Cora managed to a smile for her. “Of course. I’ll be up in a few minutes.” After Maria left, tromping us the stairs, she turned back to the others. “We can take the truck down to Casper and hit the surrounding towns. But…”

“It would be at least an overnight trip. Yeah….” Stiles nodded slowly, propping his chin on one hand. “You should. I can stay here with the kids. If we have at least enough to make it the Sawtooth Grove… we can figure out the rest from there. If we can find places to stop along the way, instead of freezing to death in the truck.” Stiles didn't look up from mashing the peaches with a fork, but he could feel Lydia glaring at him.

"Can you at least try to be helpful?"

"Look, we don't have enough gas to get home. We might, if we're very lucky, have gas to get Khrys and Nik home. How many abandoned cars that still have gas in them have we passed since we left Rapid City? Other people are looking for supplies, too, and the more time goes by the less there will be available.”

"I hate to say this, but the further Northwest you go, the worse the snow will be." Lorraine sat down on the bench and began patting her hair dry. "And you've been a help to me here. I'd be happy to have you stay longer."

Lydia set her jaw stubbornly. "I can't give up on going home," she said, low and showing all the exhaustion of the past week.

"We are getting back to Beacon Hills," Stiles said. He glanced over and tried not to wince at the hopeless expression on her face. "It just may take longer than we originally planned."

"Are we staying?" Maria asked hopefully. Cora looked up to see her leaning over the railing for the second floor, Khrys a half step behind her. “The chickens really like it here.” 

Lydia rubbed her forehead wearily. “Until the snow stops,” Lydia told her, in what had become a familiar refrain. 

Maria let out a cheer and raced down the stairs to hug Lydia. Lydia patted her hair with a pained smile and then wandered back into the parlor. 

Cora found her there a few minutes later, hunched over on the couch with her face in her hands. 

“I know it's not what you wanted,” she said, feeling awkward as she hovered over Lydia. Lydia snorted, and looked up, eyes red rimmed. 

“No. I’ve been pushing and pushing to get home, and it still wasn’t enough.” 

“Lydia, as amazing as you are, you still can’t control nature. It’s winter. It snows.” 

Lydia smiled wryly at that. “Fine, I’ll try to remember that. And I suppose we’re learning some useful skills while we’re here.” 

“Yeah, I can wrangle cows like a boss. And use a snowplow. Just think of this like… a work study.” When Lydia didn’t say anything, Cora crouched down and met her eyes. “I know you’re worried about the rest of the pack. You want to ask Stiles to scry home after the kids go to sleep?” 

Lydia let out a slow breath. “Yeah.”


	9. Chapter 9

January 2

 

It was early when Stiles woke. He took a minute to orient himself - Wyoming, werecougars, snow - before turning to check on the kids. All of them were still sleeping, and he took care climbing out of the tent and zipping it mostly closed. Then the light in the room caught his attention and he realized why he had woken. The wind had finally stopped. He skirted the tent and leaned next to the window, mouth pulling into an involuntary smile. 

The slow pinks and reds of the sunrise reflected on the snow, and he squinted against the glare. Even seeing that both the truck and the Jeep were snow covered mounds, and the road was only identifiable by a mailbox shaped snow mound couldn’t bring down his mood. 

He wallowed in the light and the sheer silence for a moment, then looked over as the door creaked open. Lydia peeked through the doorway.

“Are we leaving?” 

Lydia made a face at him. "We’ll have dig out the truck and start plowing the road again. Though if you want to try that wind spell Maria suggested the other day…” When Stiles grimaced at her, she sighed. “Right. I'll go wake Cora and Khrys, so we can help out with the chores." 

"Good plan." Lydia squeezed his arm briefly, before leaving the room on quiet footsteps, while Stiles stared out the window, reveling in the light and the quiet.

Eventually, he managed to drag himself away. Mister Fluffy left out a soft growl, then settled, as Stiles ducked into the tent, carefully tucking the top blanket back around Harry, Maria and Nik before zipping the tent flap halfway shut. He crept downstairs to the bathroom and even managed to focus enough to warm the freezing water in the pitcher by the sink enough to wash his hands and face. By the time he got back upstairs and into (slightly) cleaner clothes, Harry was up, determinedly pulling the tent flap open. 

"Hey, buddy," Stiles said quietly, holding out his hands for Harry to grab onto and pull himself up and out of the tent. It was a long staggering trek across the hall to the bathroom, but Harry for once wasn't complaining about walking, so Stiles took the win. Now more awake, he laid a hand on the counter until it warmed enough for him to lay the baby on and quickly get him changed and washed up, letting the other kids sleep for a while longer. 

When he made it downstairs into the warm kitchen with a happier baby, Lorraine was cooking breakfast over the wood stove and Lydia was making tea. 

"Morning. Cora's checking the pasture fences with Jamie," Lydia said. "Now that it’s stopped snowing, Lorraine said she'd go with Cora a few miles up the road after breakfast to see how bad it is further west." 

Stiles nodded stiffly, settling Harry into his carseat and digging some of the food they'd set aside as 'baby adjacent' out for him.

“Like I told Lydia earlier, y’all are welcome to stay until the roads clear up.” 

Stiles winced, pausing in his mashing as he braced for another argument. "Lydia -"

She steamrolled right over him. "Until we fill up all the gas cans, at least. Another two or three days should do it, I think."

He dropped the fork and gaped at her. "Seriously?"

"You and I both know Maria would kill herself trying to help clear the roads if we let her, and that’s what would happen if we left now. We need to rest. The kids... the kids need to be able to run around for awhile. We can check fo supplies in the surrounding towns, split what we find with Lorraine and then go once we have enough gas to get us back home." She glanced over at Lorraine, who nodded. 

“Sounds like a good deal for me. It’d be too quiet with you now.” She leaned back to the stove. “Anyway, breakfast is ready. Send one of the kids to check on the chickens when they get up.” She dished herself up a plate and wandered out of the kitchen. 

Stiles smiled tentatively. "Maybe we can get the radio running, and see if we can bounce a signal far enough to Beacon Hills, or back to the Moreno's."

"Well, if we're going that far, we're going to take a look at that old windmill and see if we can get it working again, so we can have running water.” Lowering her voice, Lydia added, “Besides, who knows what things will be like further west. Get more supplies, let Cora get the vehicles back to peak condition…”

“That alone would make the stop worth it,” Stiles said fervently. “Let’s go talk to the kids, then.” 

Maria and Nik were both still dead to the world when Lydia unzipped the tent, and it took a few moments of prodding for them to crawl out, wincing as bare feet hit the cold floor. 

Nik huddled in his blanket, cranky and half asleep, while Maria’s eyes popped open wide and she rushed to the window before anyone could gets a word out.

“HOLY COW! Look at all that snow!” She whirled around, hands clasped in front of her pleadingly. "Can I make just one snowman before we haveta leave again?" 

“Actually… we’re going to stay here for a bit. Just until we can get the roads cleared.” Lydia shrugged, then Maria was hurtling towards her and squeezing her into a hug as tight as she could. 

“Yes! We get to stay!” She let go long enough to hug Stiles, then grabbed Nik’s arm and nearly flew from the room, Nik complaining as she half dragged him downstairs. 

Lydia and Stiles exchanged an amused glance - and then a door slammed opened and Nik’s complaining increased in both volume and vehemence. 

“I’ve got the baby,” Stiles said quickly, holding him up. “I’ll break into our supplies and get our bit of breakfast going while you get them.” 

“Ugh, if someone gets sick,” Lydia muttered, stomping after them. Stiles skirted the tent and looked out the window, where Maria was rolling in the snow and flinging it into the air. 

“I’ll start some water for a bath!” Stiles called after her. Then, “Look, buddy, it’s Maria!” he said, pointing her out. Harry stuffed a hand in his mouth and watched with wide eyes as Lydia joined the scene, coatless but wearing boots. Faint sounds of a lecture floated up to them. “Okay! Let’s get some breakfast.” 

 

Cora looked up when she heard shrieking from the yard. She met Jamie at the door of the cattle barn, Khrys a step behind her, then relaxed, snorting in amusement when she saw Lydia herding Maria back to the house, stridently lecturing about the effects of the cold on immune systems. Nik was glaring balefully from the porch. 

“I think she knows we’re staying,” Khrys said, giggling. Maria’s strident singing of “Frosty the Snowman’ was abruptly quieted as the front door slammed behind the children. 

“I’ll get another bale of hay,” Cora volunteered, when the two teenagers leaned toward each other, smirking and laughing. She wandered off, rolling her eyes as the two began an awkward small talk slash flirtation. About ten minutes went by and then Maria was back out again, and Cora peeked out to make sure she was properly bundled up when she went out to the chicken shed, still singing loudly. By the time the got all the feed distributed and opened the back barn door so the cattle could go out to the pasture, Cora could smell fried bread and eggs coming from the house. 

“There’s a bath on upstairs!” Lydia yelled from the kitchen as Cora ushered Jamie and Khrys inside. 

“You take first,” Jamie told Khrys, who smiled in a distinctly coquettish fashion before scampering up the stairs. Cora bit back a smirk and Jamie blushed. “Oh, did you-“ 

“I’ll wash up down here,” she said, heading for the small first floor bathroom. She managed a decent wipe down and a change into cleaner clothes before her stomach made it’s displeasure known. The back porch door creaked open and slammed shut as Maria came back in, now singing a made up song about chickens, and three voices told her to wash her hands for breakfast. 

“We get to stay!” Maria told Cora as the passed in the hall, then danced the rest of the way to the bathroom. Cora had to stop then, just in the doorway to the kitchen, and laugh. 


End file.
